UNITED NATIONS: Poor Precedent

For more than two months, the Soviet
Union had boycotted all major U.N. proceedings because Communist China
had not been admitted to membership.

Last week, U.N. Secretary General Trygve Lie tried to resolve the
impasse. He wanted the U.S., France and three other nations which have
not recognized the Chinese Communist regime to go ahead and admit its
delegates to the U.N. anyway. Lie argued that diplomatic recognition
should not be a test of qualification for U.N. membership.

His proposal missed a point. The U.S. had agreed that it would abide by
whatever the U.N. Assembly decided on the China issue....